I was just looking for some insight this weekend. We have a gravel pit with a truck scale but we are looking to start another one in a remote location in SD, and I was wondering if Loader Scales were legal to sell off of. The DOT allows it on quantiles up to 10,000 ton, but I was wondering if they were legal to sell to the everyday customer who may take 50 to a 100 tons a day. Just wondering if anyone has done this before I embark on a journey with the State weights and measures on Monday? Thanks!
I operated a loader many years ago with Loadrite scales loading fine sand. There was a large concrete block with a known weight that had to be picked up in the bucket to calibrate the scale. Guess the clients knew the deal and were charged off the scales, no worries.
I always thought it was funny at two pits where I used to pick up (owned by the same company) the 980 operator would get what he thought was right, lower it to the ground, weigh it which required lifting it all the way up at full throttle, and then either dump some out or get some more, weigh it again, repeat until it was perfect, then they would weigh you out on platform scales anyway. I wondered how much extra fuel they burned that way. All when I said I want x tons more or less, don't really care, but they seemed to.
As long as it is calibrated I can’t see you have a problem. As long as you are not defrauding the customer surely it doesn’t matter how you weigh it. Here you can get weigh loaders that even print out tickets in the cab. Graham
They are not legal for trade in SC, but I don't know about SD.
Here in MI for DOT projects we accept the loader tickets but require they take an occasional load across a certified truck scale so we can verify the loader scale
We only used them in Washington State to get as close to the legal limits on dump trucks as possible. The units we had didn't have the links to the office computers to do the automatic billing that was needed in those days. It may be different now.
It was done the same way by a company I used to work for. They were concerned that the truck would leave overloaded and be at risk for a ticket and fine.
The loadrite scale on my Wa450 has a printer and a certification sticker from when it was in Idaho.
Check with the State they may have to certify it.